Exile The Resistance
by Ceretis Paribus
Summary: After loosing the war of Soul Society the surviving captains flee to the real world in order to set up a resistance. Ukitake and Hitsugaya, Ichigo, Ishida, Rukia, Isane, and Byakuya.
1. Chapter 1

Exile - The resistance

Going into exile after losing the battle of Soul Society wasn't something he was proud of doing bask then, but Byakuya had convinced him that it was the only way to get Soul Society back.

After all, who would fight Aizen if not them?

That was 20 years ago.

Ukitake tied his long white hair back into a loose pony tail, letting it drape over his left shoulder.

His crisp tailor made white suit was left unbuttoned, exposing the green silk vest underneath.

The real world suited him appearance wise, he decided checking his reflection in the mirror.

It was just every other aspect of this world that didn't agree with him; the fast life style in Tokyo, the impersonal relations at work, and the never ending hunt for market shares.

20 years ago he and Byakuya had decided that it was best that they went their separate ways and working on setting up the resistance in order to conquer Soul Society back.

Ukitake had soon realised that without any money you wouldn't get anywhere in the real world.

After a struggle that damn well nearly killed him, he managed to set a business up; a financial advisory. After all he knew quite a bit about economy after having done paper work for 2 divisions for 2000 years.

As it turned out he started the business at just the right time. I grew quickly and "Shiro Consult" as the company was named now employed over 2000 people in 4 of Japan's major cities.

Just managing a business of that magnitude was a lot of hard work and besides that he was also trying to organize a resistance.

Just 2 years ago Hitsugaya-taichou turned up at his doorstep. Rarely had he been so happy to see anyone before.

Hitsugaya has grown in those 20 years - in many ways.

He was almost as tall as Byakuya now, but still about a head shorter than Ukitake.

Hitsugaya had truly come as though sent from above. Ukitake had immediately hired him as assisting director and he also lifted an incredible amount of work load in the resistance work.

So far they had round up Ichigo, Ishida, Inoue, Soi Fong, Yoruichi, Shuuhei and Kira.

Kenpachi, Yamamoto, and Shunsui had been confirmed dead. They all perished in the battle.

Unohana, Matsumoto, and Rukia was unaccounted for, but after 20 years of silence there was little hope. Ukitake had also tried to find Byakuya for the last 2 year, but with no luck. It was seriously beginning to worry him.

Ukitake's gaze focused on his own reflection again. He had to get going otherwise he wouldn't make his first meeting in time.

Just as put on his black cashmere jacket, he coughed hard for the third time this morning. He noted that his chest was sounding increasingly terrible. He wouldn't be able to withstand too many of those calibre attacks.

With Unohana gone and never ending work days and irregular sleep patterns, his health had deteriorated even further over the last 20 years.

He was forced to hide it though as best as to his abilities. If it slipped out that the director was white haired and weak chested it would only be a matter of time before Aizen would pick up on it.

Ukitake still took the stairs down from the penthouse apartment - he absolutely refused to take the elevator, but as a result of his stubbornness he was wheezing badly when he got into his car.

Shiro Consult's head quarters in Tokyo was an imposing building with it's glass façade and a lobby with an indoor lake, designer furniture, and bonsai trees; every interior decorators dream.

Of course the director's office was on the top floor.

And that meant elevators.

If he were to take the stairs his poor lung capacity would not be a secret much longer had Hitsugaya argued.

The boy was of course right.

Hitsugaya greeted Ukitake when the dreaded elevator reached it's destination. Hitsugaya was looking impeccable as ever in his crisp black suit and his fine black hair neatly combed back. They had designed his gigai with black hair to avoid suspicion.

"Ohayo Shiro-sama," Hitsugaya started and bowed. Ukitake hated when he did that - too formal.

"Ohayo to you too," Ukitake answered.

Hitsugaya handed him a bounch of papers.

"What's this?"

"Board meeting in 15 minutes," Hitsugaya explained.

"What? The next board meeting isn't until next week, you're mistaking," Ukitake exclaimed and then coughed again.

"Did you not check your e-mail last night?" Hitsugaya asked when Ukitake quieted down.

"No, I didn't have the chance." Hitsugaya studied the older man he had probably worked on a lead on Byakuya unto the wee hours of the night. Or so he looked with the dark circles under his eyes. It was becoming clear that Ukitake needed Byakuya to come home soon. Hitsugaya had noticed that the ex captain seemed lonely and slightly depressed. Ukitake had even stopped given him candy.

"Extraordinary board meeting," Hitsugaya explained, "we have received the offer from the Souma Enterprices."

"Oh," Ukitake took in the information and quickly skimmed through some of the papers, " is the offer any good?"

"Not really, but there's some favourable points in it as well that should be taken into consideration," Hitsugaya answered truthfully.

Ukitake sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Couldn't you just take this meeting?" he asked knowing that it wasn't really a possibility.

"I could, but I'm not allowed… how's your health, Ukitake-taichou?" he whispered the ex captains real name.

"Not cooperating," he summed a long story short

"Can you suppress it?" Hitsugaya hated to ask such a thing from a man that clearly should have stayed in bed.

"I'm going to have to. At least a dozen people saw me coming up here… to disappear would be suspicious,"

Hitsugaya nodded then remembered something.

"By the way I received a special call last night," he whispered, " from Kyoto… Ichigo and Ishida have a lead on Rukia."

"Really?"

"Yes, they are pursuing the matter as we speak and I expect an update from them some time after noon."

"Good… good," Ukitake commented, but then his face contorted and his hand flew to his chest as his hunched over.

Hitsugaya saw the signs and all but yanked Ukitake into his office where all hell broke lose..

Ukitake broke down coughing horribly a fit so bad that he was struggling to stay on his feet. Hitsugaya tried to steady the ailing man and handed him a handkerchief.

Ukitake took it and continued to cough relentlessly.

It tore at Hitsugaya's very core to see how much pain Ukitake was in and even more o when the handkerchief came away bloodied.

"We're switching," Hitsugaya dictated.

"What?" Ukitake croaked out in a weak voice

"Gigais! We are switching gigais. Then I'll take the board meeting and you'll be free to go home sick"

Ukitake was desperately trying his best to stop coughing and limited himself to a nod in confirmation.

Switching felt so strange. Hitsugaya's gigai was much to tight for Ukitake even with Hitsugaya's substantial growth.

However, Hitsugaya had to suffer the taste of blood in Ukitake's gigai and a sore rib cage.

Hitsugaya clutched his sides.

"Bloody hell! How much did you cough last night?"

"Sorry about that," Ukitake whispered and broke down coughing again. Hitsugaya couldn't get his head around seeing his own body coughing like that, see blood on his own lips.

"Hey, don't break my gigai!" Hitsugaya commented playfully, but maybe he shouldn't have. Ukitake struggled even harder with laughing and coughing at the same time.

"Sorry…" he wheezed, " I'll take it off as soon as I get home," he dapped his bloodied lips, "I think I'll take a cap."

"Good idea," Hitsugaya approved with a sad face. The man didn't need a cab - he needed an ambulance and yet they could do nothing for him. How he wished that Unohana was here, " I'll come home and help you as soon as I can."


	2. Chapter 2

Exile - The Resistance

Chapter 2

Hitsugaya arrived at Ukitake's penthouse late that evening; the board meeting had last until late in the afternoon and after that, the rest of the evening had been spend on the phone with representatives from Souma Enterprises.

He had tired from managing the larger gigai and he immediately took it off and stretched.

Now that he was quite, he realised that Ukitake's laboured breathing was audible all the way from the bedroom.

Ukitake was as pale as the sheets he was lying on, except from spatters of blood that varied in size and colour, suggestion that Ukitake had suffered several major attacks since coming home

"Ukitake." Hitsugaya breathed, his brows knitted with concern.

The ancient shinigami opened his eyes, but it seemed to take him a while to find Hitsugaya and seek out his eyes.

"Hitugaya," Ukitake rasped and tried to sit up. "How did it go?" Hitsugaya put his hand in the sick man's shoulder to keep him from moving too much.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked, momentarily forgetting the board meeting at the sight of the pitiful state Ukitake was in. "It went very well. They accepted the conditions we had and we ended up accepting the offer… I'll tell you more about it once you're well again."

Hitsugaya moved a few strand of white hair that was plastered to Ukitake's forehead; a surprisingly gently manoeuvre from the wielder of the strongest ice dragon.

It was also a cover up that allowed Hitsugaya to feel Ukitake's forehead for fever; the poor man was burning up.

"You're badly off aren't you?" Hitsugaya asked.

Ukitake actually managed a smile, but his watering red eyes and pale bluish lips didn't really comfort the younger man.

"It's not that bad," Ukitake whispered, trying to reassure him and closed his eyes again and within moments Ukitake fell asleep.

Hitsugaya didn't like it. Especially now with nothing to comfort him than the wheezing rasping sounds from Ukitake's chest.

He had never seen him so bad before, but of course he wasn't Shunsui or Unohana.

However, he did seem to be stable at the moment and Hitsugaya decided to exploit it to call Ichigo.

"Oi, Toushirou," Ishigo's voice voice boomed through the phone. It ached in Hitsugaya to tell him, _That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you. _He guessed that the times had changed.

"Kurosaki, how did it go? Haven't heard from."

"Ah, guess who I'm standing with?" Kurosaki was sounding unmistakably cheerful.

"A wild guess would be Rukia?"

"Yes, and who else?" They had found one more!

"Kuchiki-taichou?"

"Nah, Isane-san was with Rukia - who would have thought!"

It seemed that Hitsugaya's heart skipped a beat. _Isane-fukutaichou!_

"_Can I speak with her?" Hitsugaya asked and tried not to sound to eager._

"_Rukia-kun, yeah sure,"_

"_No! I meant Isane-san."_

"_Oh alright," Ichigo sounded a little taken aback. "Toshirou wishes to speak with you, Isane._

"_Kombawa, Hitsugaya-taichou," he heard Isane's voice say and he felt relieved and just a sense of normality with her formality that he missed so much._

"_Kombawa, Isane-fukutaichou… I know it is awful of me to ask you something like this after 20 years, but Ukitake-taichou is very ill and I'm afraid that there's not much that I can do for him._

"_Ukitake-taichou is still alive?" she asked seemingly surprised, "I heard he died shortly after Shunsui."_

"_No, he's still alive, but 20 years without Unohana or you has done nothing good for him… do you think you can help him?"_

"_I think I could… where are you at?"_

"_We're in Tokyo - Kurosaki can give you the address."_

"_How bad is he?"_

"_Pretty bad. He's been coughing blood almost the whole day now and his breathing is sounding awful. He's running a high fever as well."_

"_Hm, I'll come to Tokyo as fast as I can. Perhaps Rukia would like to come as well - Ukitake is her captain as well."_

"_She shall be welcome and thank you very much Isane-fukutaichou."_

"_You're welcome, I'll see you tomorrow then."_

"_Yes, we will. It's good to hear from you, Isane."_

_Upon ending the call he was feeling a hope build up inside him. They had covered some ground today; both Rukia and Isane_

_And with them Ukitake might stood a chance of surviving._

_All he needed now would be Unohana and Byakuya and all would be well._

_For hours he watched over the sickly captain, but the long he had had was starting to take it's toll on the young man. He was tired._

_Finding it increasingly difficult to stay awake he started pacing the room until Ukitake suddenly jolted upright in the bed in a full fledged coughing attack._

_It came on so suddenly that Hitsugaya must have jumped a metre up in the air and afterwards felt a little awkward about it, but Ukitake clearly didn't notice._

_Hitsugaya sat down on the bed besides Ukitake and support him through the harsh attack that left him breathless and wheezing in harder than before._

_Ukitake's eyes were closed tightly shot with the effort to stand the pain the coughing was causing him. _

_It was with some relief that Hitsugaya noticed that he hadn't coughed any blood up this time. The time in bed had helped a little after all._

_Ukitake slumped back again, resting his weight on the pillow again, desperately trying to catch his breath again._

_Hitsugaya was slightly surprised to find a clear set of eyes on him. He guessed that Ukitake's fever had broken._

"_You look…" Ukitake rasped and coughed a couple of times. "…you look awful." _

_Hitsugaya quirked an eyebrow at that remark._

"_I assure you… compared to some I look like a damn wellness campaign." Hitsugaya uttered the words so dryly that Ukitake struggled not to laugh, closing his mouth, embracing his ribs, but his chest rumbled with the effort nonetheless._

"_Easy there. There's no need to get so riled up."_

_Ukitake took some relatively deep breaths and calmed himself._

"_Sorry… I only meant… you look like you could use some sleep." Ukitake spoke in an uneven voice, struggling to keep his chest from cramping up again._

_Hitsugaya sighed._

"_I suppose I could."_

"_Then lie down here if you insist on watching over me… you're making me feel bad; keeping you up all day… all night too." Ukitake gave him a brief smile. "There's plenty of space… and I wont bite."_

_There was plenty of reason in what Ukitake was saying and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't that tired._

"_Alright then.. I will." Hitsugaya made to lie down, but that awkward feeling he was used to when he had been younger returned. It felt strange._

_Ukitake seemed to feel his hesitation._

"_I'm going back to sleep… seems my body still needs more rest."_

"_Ichigo found Rukia and Isane. They'll both be here by tomorrow." Hitsugaya blurted out. _

"_They found them?" Ukitake had already closed his eyes and he apparently had no intention to open them again sometime soon, but he did smile genuinely. "That's wonderful." His voice was slurred with impeding sleep and after mere minutes Ukitake's face relaxed and looked immensely peaceful._

_Hitsugaya was already sitting on the edge of the bed. Lying down wasn't that far away… was it? He suddenly got very angry at himself; so self aware that he couldn't even lie down next to a sick man he had known for years._

_He sighed._

_Slowly he laid back, resting his head on the pillow. Gods, it was so soft._

_Kicking his shoes off, he lifted his feet up upon the bed too. Grinning to himself at his own awkwardness he closed his eyes and allowed the sweet oblivion that sleep brought with it consume him._


	3. Chapter 3

-1**Exile - The Resistance chapter 3**

---

Hitsugaya slowly woke in the comfortable bed much against his will. He felt as if he could sleep forever. Turning over again that was exactly what he planned to do.

Wait!

There were voices coming from the kitchen.

Hitsugaya bolted upright. Ukitake was not in the bed. Hitsugaya felt up the bed where he should have been lying.

It was not even a trace of warmth there anymore. Ukitake had been up for a while.

Still woozy from sleep he got up and noted that the clock insisted it was around noon. Had he really slept that long?

Ukitake, Isane, and Rukia had been exchanging pleasantries and information in a light tone and Ukitake was glad to see these two girls alive and well.

However, he was slightly disappointed when Rukia told him she hadn't seen her brother in 2 years, but he did take some consolation in that Byakuya was at lest confirmed alive and well up until 2 years ago.

He took a sip of the hot tea to soothe his aching throat a bit and noted that his hands were still shaky from yesterday's illness. His lungs had yet to fail him today, but the day was still young. He spoke slowly, taking breaks, masking them by taken a sip of his tea. These years of hiding his disease at work was beginning to infiltrate his private life as well.

Today he dared not test his health.

Hitsugaya suddenly entered the kitchen with rather wild looking eyes, which immediately sought out Ukitake's. He was surprised to find them calm and with a spark of joy.

But there was also a touch of sadness.

Hitsugaya cleared his throat, suddenly a little embarrassed about his panicky entrance.

"Ah, Ohayo gozaimasu, Isana-san, Kuchiki-san" Hitsugaya greeted and smiled. It had been too long since he had seen them last.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, how good to see you," Isane answered with a genuine smile

"Come sit down, Hitsugaya," Ukitake said with a clearly abused voice and gestured the chair right next to him, "-the time for the next step is up, Toshirou."

Ukitake coughed lightly behind a closed mouth.

"And what might that be, Ukitake-taichou?"

"Selling the company." Ukitake explained and took another sip of the tea, "-and then meet up with Kurosaki and the others in Kyoto once we're done."

"Selling such a large company could take years, Ukitake."

"I've already found a buyer."

"What? When have you had time to do that?"

Ukitake took his time; sipping his tea, moving his mug around a little bit. It might have seemed like ordinary stuff, but Hitsugaya recognized the signs. Ukitake was trying to catch his breath. The man had almost perfected the art of hiding and suppressing his symptoms - unless you really paid attention you couldn't even hear the slight hiss or notice the strained neck muscles.

"Well. I spend too much time in bed," Ukitake answered once he found his breath again, "-had to make good use of it, hadn't I?"

Hitsugaya was still speechless. He kept on staring at the man - marvelled at Ukitake's seemingly never ending ability to surprise him. He was so busy doing that he didn't even notice the to women in the room who were just as astounded as he was, but at his taller frame and more grown up visage.

Isane couldn't help but smile - she liked what she saw.

"The buyer is prepared for a swift deal," Ukitake was cut short by a cough that seemed to have snuck on him. It took him a little aback and he cast the others an apologetic glance before willing it down. He took a brief moment to clear his throat, "-most of the papers have already been finished. It just needs the final touch and the necessary signatures."

The immediate concern for Ukitake's health disappeared in Hitsugaya's eye like dew before the sun and was replaced by something akin to joy; the resistance was within their grasp. They just needed the final touches and they could finally concentrate on preparing the attack.

The restlessness that had filled him for years on end seemed to evaporate. He was eager! Eager to get to work.

Ukitake on the other hand seemed to have been drained of energy all of a sudden. Isane noticed him going ghastly pale and his eyes distant.

In one swift movement she was by his side and just by being close to him she could feel the unhealthy warmth radiating from him. Rukia and Hitsugaya noticed the difference as well.

"Ukitake-taichou!" Rukia called with evident concern in her voice.

"Maybe you should go lie down," Hitsugaya suggested, "-you've been ill all day yesterday."

"Yes, I think you might be right." The man ungracefully got to his feet and made his shaky way back to the bedroom with a fidgeting Isane on his heels.

"He doesn't look too good." Rukia stated, once they had disappeared from their view. Hitsugaya looked at her; it seemed that 20 years in the real world had matured her as well. She seemed not so hindered by sense of propriety and way of conduct. It seemed to him that she wouldn't have made such a comment about her superior in such a matter-of-factly way 20 years ago and still have felt so at ease.

Hitsugaya gave her a sad smile.

"No, he doesn't." He agreed

--


	4. Chapter 4

**Exile – The Resistance **

Chapter 4

Hitsugaya cleared his throat. He didn't like the intense awkward silence that filled the kitchen after Isane and Ukitake left the room.

"So what have you been doing all these years?" Hitsugaya finally asked. "Why did you hide so well?"

Rukia met his gaze again and smiled. Hitsugaya saw something is her smile that he wasn't accustomed to. He couldn't quite place it, but one thing was absolutely sure; Rukia was blushing...

"I joined a monastery in Sendai," she told him. "I needed some peace and opportunity to think about things."

She sighed heavily and looked at her hands and Hitsugaya swore that he saw tears forming in her eyes.

"You know, suddenly leaving life as you knew it for something completely unknown scared me. So I needed to find a stable environment. And, you know.... I missed Nii-sama."

"You haven't seen him since the battle?" Hitsugaya asked slightly surprise and concerned – not so much concern for that arrogant Kuchiki idiot, but Ukitake. He wouldn't take such news well.

"No, I haven't." She looked away again, seemingly concerned. "It's rather hard to imagine him, high noble and respected, having to start over again. To have his name mean nothing, for his opinions to hold no weight. Can you imagine that?"

Hitsugaya gave a crooked smile, he had a great picture in his head.

"No, I must say that I find that hard to imagine"

His eyes flew to Isane, who entered the room again. She held a hand up to get him to sit down again. She looked rather grave.

"I've got to be honest," Isane started, "It's going to take some time to get him well enough to travel."

"How bad is he?" Hitsugaya forced himself to ask.

"Worse than I thought, actually," Isane answered truthfully, "-he didn't look so bad when we talked, but when I examined him it turned out that his lung function is down to 50%."

"What can you do?"

Isane sighed.

"There are some kidou treatments that'll help him. Right now it's all about damage control. This flare up is dangerous and we need t stop it now. After that, we'll see what I can due about restoring some of the lung function."

She smiled reassuringly.

"He asked me to give you this," she said and handed Hitsugaya a piece of paper. He glanced over it and found a name and some contact information.

"What's this?" he asked.

"The buyer," she smiled, "-he wanted you to contact him and close the deal."

"Of course," Hitsugaya welcomed the distraction, "-I'll just grab a shower and I'll be off. Make yourself at home and Isane, please watch him closely."

"I will," she confirmed and smiled.

…

Hitsugaya returned to the flat late in the evening. Contacting the buyer and requiring the necessary finishing touches to the sale had been a piece of cake. The act of calling in a urgent board meeting and informing this about the impending sale, was something entirely different. The news had been taken badly and he had spent the remainders of the day on the phone and in heated meetings.

Hitsugaya smirked at the reaction the news of he and Ukitake resigning had caused. Which was actually hardly any at all.

Of course everyone was insecure about their position in this new arrangement. Hitsugaya was relieved that he would have nothing more to do with it.

The work Ukitake had done to prepare this sale was nothing short of an achievement, even lawyers from both parties had been over it more than once. How he had arranged this without him knowing about it was beyond him.

Hitsugaya had expected the apartment to be quiet, but he found Ukitake still up, talking heatedly on the phone.

"Well it's not your call to make, sir!" Ukitake boomed in a loud voice. Hitsugaya stopped dead in his tracks; he's never Ukitake sound like that.

And the way he stood over that desk fist almost dug down into the hard wood. He was tense and he would have looked strong, had he looked like a scarecrow from the weight loss his illness was causing him. Both his shirt and trousers were looking several sizes too big.

"There is a board meeting tomorrow. Ask there!" Ukitake turned his mouth a little away from the phone and breathed in with a wheeze.

"You must understand that I have no control over this any more! I've sold the company. It's done! You have to take it up with the new owner, goodnight!"

He aggressively ended the call and threw the phone directly into the wall where it smashed into pieces.

"I take it you heard that the sale went through?" Hitsugaya dared to breach the silence. Ukitake made a start and met Hitsugaya's eyes with a panicked look. His hand had immediately flown to his chest.

"Jeez, Hitsugaya-taichou," Ukitake gasped, "-you startled me!" All the tension in his voice was suddenly gone. Despite hating giving the old man a shock he loved when Ukitake called him taichou. It reminded him of the old days.

"Yes, I got the impression a couple of hours ago," he started to explain, "-you wouldn't believe the kind of call I've taken."

"Oh, I think I can," Hitsugaya countered and slammed an impressive stack of documents on the coffee table, "-what do you think I've been doing today?"

Ukitake smiled and nodded, "-of course."

"Where's Isane and Rukia?"

"They're sleeping. They've had a long couple of days."

Hitsugaya nodded tiredly and let himself fall onto the couch with a deep sigh. He hadn't realized how tense he was himself.

He felt the couch shift under him as Ukitake sat down too. Hitsugaya took the time to loosen the tie and unbutton his shirt a little.

Ukitake started coughing, a deep hollow wet sound that tore at Hitsugaya's heart. It looked like the the other man was crumbling before his eyes.

"Ukitake, you need to rest," he pointed out, "-we need a leader for the resistance."

Ukitake willed the attack down and met Hitsugaya's worried gaze.

"Why do you think I want to find Byakuya so bad?" he rhetorically asked in a weak voice.

Hitsugaya felt himself tense up again.

"What does that mean?" He asked, fearing the worst.

"What does that mean?" Ukitake repeated, "-it means that I do not trust my body enough to put myself in charge of something as important as the resistance without a strong character as my second." Ukitake smiled sadly, "-I do realize that this insults you, Hitsugaya-taichou, but you are just not ready for the Soutaichou position. The next one in line, except Byakuya is Yoruichi, but her skills are really too..." Ukitake coughed again, almost choking, "-specialized for that particular position."

He broke down coughing again and he was getting more breathless by the minute

"You don't have to worry about my pride in such matters," Hitsugaya tried to reassure him, "-I know very well that I'm not soutaichou material yet."

He patted the older gently on the shoulder. "-Now, go to bed, before I'll make you."


End file.
